“We offer our story as one example (amongst many) of what it can look like to answer the call to fund racial justice. Five years ago, we at the Pink House Foundation (PHF)—a small family foundation based in Washington, D.C.—set out to explore what it could look like to redefine philanthropy with justice at the center,” report Hanna Mahon and Luke Newton Newton in Inside Philanthropy.
Grantmakers in the Arts
by Nadia Elokdah in Arts and Higher Education, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Edirin Oputu from Temple News interviewed Linda Earle, associate graduate director in the Art History Department for the arts management MA at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Oputu summarized, “We spoke with her about how organizations and artists can push for greater equity, how the arts scene is developing and what needs to be done to bring about institutional change.”
by Nadia Elokdah in Philanthropic practice, Racial Equity
“Everyone in philanthropy can potentially play a role in supporting transformative racial justice work," remarks Lori Villarosa, founder and executive director, Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE) in a piece for PEAK Grantmaking blog. "But to unlock that potential, each person needs to apply racial equity and racial justice lenses to all aspects of their work. And grants professionals can be a driving force by both shifting practice and ensuring that the organization is impactfully looking at its work through both lenses.”
by Nadia Elokdah in Social Justice
Robin D. G. Kelley shares "Back to the Future: Complex Movements Make Revolution," an essay from memory on a conversation with 2022 Knight Arts + Tech Fellows Complex Movements in Shift Space 2.0, a publication exploring new media landscapes. Kelley recollects, "Radical philosopher Grace Lee Boggs (1915–2015) was the catalyst for Complex Movements, which took its name in 2010 after listening to her invoke quantum theory to explain new directions in organizing."
by Nadia Elokdah in Racial Equity
"Grants management professionals are strategically positioned to influence a funder’s racial equity and racial justice funding. But in three decades of working in and with foundations, I have consistently seen a pattern where people serving in these roles are excluded from these conversations as a matter of institutional habit," writes Lori Villarosa, founder and executive director, Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE), in PEAK Grantmaking Journal, issue 19. "As a result, there is a lack of understanding across the field about how the work of grants management directly relates to advancing racial equity and justice."
by Nadia Elokdah in Indigenous Arts
“From digital libraries to fully immersive schools, Indigenous leaders are reclaiming and spreading cultural knowledge to ensure it doesn't get lost,” explains Fix Solutions Lab associate editor Claire Elise Thompson.
by Nadia Elokdah in Program-related Investment
The Upstart Co-Lab Member Community has invested nearly $8 million in funds and startups, and Upstart plans to launch a $100 million impact investment portfolio for the Inclusive Creative Economy. The Upstart Co-Lab 2021 Impact Report details the impact framework, which tracks the impact of investments in the creative economy across five dimensions.
by Nadia Elokdah in Racial Equity
Media Impact Funders (MIF) share a glimpse of their time at Sundance Film Festival with a Film Funders Follow-up. In this conversation with Vincent Stehle, MIF executive director, Sonya Childress and Sahar Driver, Color Congress, and Denae Peters, Perspective Fund, participants discuss a new field-building organization called the Color Congress.